The present invention relates to a vehicle hitch assembly, and more particularly to hitch assembly that transmits and distributes a part of the load from the trailer to the front and rear wheels of the towing vehicle.
Hitch assemblies for more evenly distributing the tongue weight of a trailer over the front and rear axles of a towing vehicle are well known in the art. A typical hitch assembly includes a hitch bar for receipt in a receiver mounted to the vehicle and a ball mount head for mounting on the hitch bar at a selected tilt angle. A pair of spring bars are mounted at their proximal ends to the ball mount head. The distal ends of these spring bars are connected by cooperating lift units and chains to the frame of the trailer. A typical lift unit incorporates a body that is mounted to the trailer frame, a pivoting chain hook, and a safety clip for securing the chain hook in an operative position. As is known in the art, the amount of leveling or load transfer to the front axle of the vehicle is adjusted by engaging different links of the chains with the chain hooks of the lift units.
While such an arrangement is effective for its intended purpose, the lift units must be properly mounted to the trailer frame and the proper chain links engaged in the chain hooks in order to provide proper operation and a desired distribution of weight.
While relatively simple, these procedures require some time to complete and may be difficult to accomplish. Moreover, this arrangement may interfere with side mounted tongue jacks typically found on lightweight trailers.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a weight distributing hitch assembly allowing greater ease and convenience of installation and operation. This is particularly true with respect to the connection of the distal end of the spring bars to the trailer frame in order to provide the weight distributing action.